"He's a really awesome, sweet guy," Lovato shares. "But he's not my boyfriend . . . I'm in a place right now where I really need to focus on myself. Obviously, I'm still going to like people -- or love them -- but I need to not be in a relationship for a while because I need to be okay with being alone, first."

Continues the "Skyscraper" songstress, "I'm really happy right now. I never thought it was possible to be happy because of how depressed I was my entire life. But I feel so incredible. It's like I'm living in a dream."

Lovato (who has been frank about her struggles with self-confidence, eating disorders and self-cutting) definitely has plenty to smile about these days: the former Disney starlet says she was thrilled to be asked by Simon Cowell to serve as a judge (alongside Britney Spears) on X Factor, and adds that his offer couldn't have come at a better time.

"[Joining the show] was a no-brainer!" she explains. "Right before I got the offer, I'd been sitting in a meeting feeling really discouraged [about my career], wishing I was further along. And I decided that I needed to stop thinking about what I wished I had and start thinking about what I was going to have. I was ready to do something new, and I wanted to put that out there, in the universe . . . and then he called, literally, a week and a half later."